The present invention relates to a wireless communication device, a master communication device, a master/slave communication device, and a wireless communication system, and more specifically, to a wireless communication device, a master communication device, a master/slave communication device, and a wireless communication system in which, after control is delegated to one or more slave communication devices from a master communication device, any of the slave communication devices is specified by originating from an unspecified originating telephone apparatus to perform communication between that slave communication device and the originating telephone apparatus through a host station.
The development of fixed telephones, mobile communication telephones and the like has been remarkable, and it is expected that, in the near future, communication functions using fixed telephone lines or mobile communication telephone lines are added to a considerable number of electronic apparatuses (for example, television sets, various kinds of cameras and the like). Here, when a case is assumed where the communication functions are added to various kinds of electronic apparatuses., if different telephone lines are set for respective ones of the electronic apparatuses, various problems arise such as unregulated creation of IDs such as telephone numbers managed by users and host stations, and bloating of base rates of telephone lines borne by users. It is thus necessary to construct a system in which a plurality of electronic apparatuses can share a common telephone line.
Also, in IMT-2000 which is a next-generation mobile communication system, it is expected that a function referred to as so-called multicall, that is, a function allowing a plurality of mobile communication devices to simultaneously perform communication over a single mobile communication telephone line in a range of communication speeds provided for that telephone line is added. In this case, a system which avoids the aforementioned problems such as the unregulated creation of IDs is also needed.
Specifically, in a mobile communication system, seeing that frequency bands allocated to mobile communication are finite, telephone number resources allocated to individual mobile communication devices are also finite, and if unique IDs are allocated to respective electronic apparatuses, it is expected that the telephone number resources are readily exhausted while unutilized telephone numbers are suddenly increased. Thus, in a next-generation mobile communication system, it is inevitable that telephone numbers are allocated with reluctance to individual mobile communication devices, which may become a factor in increasing a base rate for a single ID.
Conventionally, to use a telephone line common to a plurality of electronic apparatuses, in the case of a fixed telephone line, a line such as an ISDN line through which a plurality of communication processing can be simultaneously processed is installed to construct a local area network (LAN), and a personal computer, a facsimile apparatus and the like having communication functions are connected to the LAN, thereby avoiding the aforementioned problems, for example.
When a telephone line common to a plurality of electronic apparatuses is intended to be used and when each electronic apparatus does not change its location, the construction of a LAN as mentioned above can deal with the case. However, when that electronic apparatus is a portable telephone, a digital camera, a video camera, or another mobile communication device having portability and premised on movement, or when it is installed in a position where the construction of a LAN is relatively difficult even when its location is not changed, it is difficult to deal with the case with a LAN.
In addition, in recent years, data transmission/reception through radio signals among a plurality of electronic apparatuses with Bluetooth (see Nikkei Electronics Jan. 17, 2000, pp.37-44) or the like has been proposed. In this case, however, there is also a problem of a transmission/reception range of radio waves with Bluetooth being limited to within a short range. Furthermore, when a large amount of data is transmitted and received over a mobile communication telephone line, an electronic apparatus such as a portable telephone performing communication with a host station through radio waves over the mobile communication telephone line also performs processing of transmitting data on radio waves to another electronic apparatus through the Bluetooth, so that a problem of power consumption may arise in that portable telephone or the like.
To address such problems, the present applicant has already proposed xe2x80x9cControl Delegation System for Telephone Linexe2x80x9d (Patent Application 2000-122791). The control delegation system uses a master communication device having a master terminal ID such as a unique telephone number for utilizing a telephone line provided by a host station and one or more slave communication devices for which slave terminal IDs created on the basis of the master terminal ID and recognizable by the host station (host computer) are set and which use those slave terminal ID to utilize the telephone line for the master communication device.
The control delegation system is a new system totally different from a conventional extension telephone in which a base unit and one or more handsets are used and any one of them utilizes the same telephone line, in that the slave communication devices utilize the telephone line using the slave terminal IDs created on the basis of the master terminal ID, that the host computer which received the slave terminal ID performs authentication of the correspondence relationship between that slave terminal ID and the master terminal ID or the like, that the slave communication device can perform originating (originate a call) by itself using the telephone line for the master communication device even when it becomes distant from the master communication device, that the respective terminals can simultaneously perform communication within a range of communication speeds previously allocated by the host computer of the master communication device (applicable to multicall), that it is possible to specify contents of control delegated by the master communication device to the slave communication device (for example, the communication speed to be used, dedicated to transmission, dedicated to reception, or the like), and the like.
According to the control delegation system, since communication functions for using the telephone line based on the ID of the master terminal are added to the plurality of slave communication devices and a state is established in which control for using the telephone line is delegated to the plurality of slave communication devices by a communication means of the master communication device, it is possible to perform processing such as substitute execution of communication, which should be essentially performed by the master communication device, by the slave communication device.
In the control delegation system, for an originating function (originating a call) of the communication functions of the slave communication device to which control has been delegated, each slave communication device uses a slave terminal ID created by, for example, adding a branch number to the telephone number of the master communication device to establish communication within the range of the communication speeds of the master communication device, so that the plurality of slave communication devices can perform originating respectively while using the common telephone line to solve the aforementioned problems.
Specifically, a slave communication device which does not have a unique ID (telephone number or the like) performs originating by using a slave terminal ID (for example, xe2x80x9c090-1234-5678-01xe2x80x9d) created on the basis of the master terminal ID (for example, xe2x80x9c090-1234-5678xe2x80x9d) of the master communication device to allow various communications to be performed through the host station. In other words, each slave communication device for which control delegation has been completed and a slave terminal ID has been set can directly perform various communications through the host station, thereby eliminating the need for the intervention of the master communication device and the need that it should be within a short distance from the master communication device and the other slave communication devices. Thus, according to the control delegation system, the problem of the positional relationship among the electronic apparatuses is solved, and further, the problem of power consumption in the master communication device is also solved.
On the other hand, for a termination function of the communication functions of the slave communication device to which control has been delegated, for example, the slave terminal IDs and the correspondence relationship between those slave terminal IDs and the master terminal ID are previously registered in the host station and a telephone or the like of an originating party specifies the ID of the slave communication device at the time of origination of a call to allow establishment of bi-directional communication between the originating party and the slave communication device on the terminating party through the host station.
Incidentally, when a mobile communication telephone line with radio signals is used in the control delegation system, a problem as described below is expected to arise when a larger number of slave communication devices have slave terminal IDs set therefor in connection with location registration performed on the host station side.
Specifically, there is a problem that, when a larger number of slave communication devices receive control delegation from the master communication device and have slave terminal IDs set therefor, a burden of processing for the location registration is excessive on the host station side if respective users carrying respective communication devices move to positions distant from one another, causing the possibility of failing to deal with such a case.
Typically, in the mobile communication system, the configuration of the host station is provided with a single central control station having a host computer, and a plurality of base stations connected to the central control station and performing transmission and reception of radio signals (radio waves) for communication. The respective base stations monitor the positions of respective portable telephones present within certain areas, respectively, to transmit position information of the respective portable telephones to the central control station which performs registration (area registration) based on the position information.
Then, a typical portable telephone (including a PHS, a PDA or the like) originates a weak radio wave (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9ca radio signal for location registrationsxe2x80x9d) including an ID of that portable telephone (telephone number information) receivable by a base station in an area where that portable telephone exists in order to perform communication through any one of the respective base stations. Here, when an unspecified telephone (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9can originating telephone apparatusxe2x80x9d) and a portable telephone make a call, the central control station performs control for connecting communication based on originating (origination of a call) from any telephone through a base station in an area where that portable telephone exists.
Thus , if the control delegation system presented earlier by the present applicant is applied to such a system for a mobile communication telephone line, when a number of slave communication devices to which control has been delegated originate radio signals for location registration simultaneously by using the slave terminal IDs different from one another based on the master terminal ID from areas different from one another, a burden of processing is excessive on the central control station side which controls the respective base stations, causing the possibility of failing to deal with such a case.
Such a problem can be addressed by each user carrying each slave communication device voluntarily turning off the main power supply of the communication device to normally prevent originating of the radio signal for location registration and turning on the main power supply only when it is required. However, a problem concerning termination then occurs that each slave communication device cannot receive a call originated by the said originating telephone apparatus.
In addition, in the already proposed control delegation system, since the host station side must register the correspondence relationship between the master terminal ID and the slave terminal IDs to perform the processing of authentication for communication performed by the slave communication devices, the processing is not completed only by the master communication device and the respective slave communication devices and the host station side needs to perform various processing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication device as a slave communication device, a master communication device, a master/slave communication device, and a wireless communication system which allow a slave communication device to perform communication with an originating telephone apparatus through a host station based on a call originated from that originating telephone apparatus even when there are a number of slave communication devices which received control delegation from a master communication device to have slave IDs set therefor and that slave communication device moves to a position away from the master communication device or the other slave communication devices.
A first configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is a wireless communication device receiving control delegation from a master communication device having a unique master ID set therefor for using a wireless telephone line provided by a host station to perform communication using the wireless telephone line for said master communication device, characterized by comprising storage means for storing the master ID and a slave ID recognizable by the master communication device, wireless communication means for performing communication using the wireless telephone line for the master communication device through the host station, pager signal reception means for receiving a pager signal of a radio paging system, and control means for controlling the wireless communication means based on a predetermined pager signal received by the pager signal reception means.
A second configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the first configuration, in that the control means normally turns off the power of the wireless communication means, and when the pager signal reception means receives a pager signal, determines whether or not the pager signal includes an originating instruction that originating should be performed to an originating telephone number, and when it determines that it is not included, performs control to maintain the power of the wireless communication means off.
A third configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the second configuration, in that the control means performs control to turn on the power of the wireless communication means when it determines that the originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number is included.
A fourth configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the third configuration, in that the control means controls the wireless communication means to perform originating to an originating telephone apparatus of the originating telephone number using the master ID after the power of the wireless communication means is turned on.
A fifth configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to fourth configurations, in that, when the pager signal reception means receives the pager signal Including the originating telephone number of the originating telephone apparatus, the control means performs control to notify a user of the fact that a telephone call should be made to the originating telephone apparatus of the originating telephone number.
A sixth configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to fifth configurations, by further comprising transmission/reception means for receiving the slave ID created by the master communication device in the control delegation and performing transmission and reception of various signals to and from the master communication device, and characterized in that, when the transmission/reception means receives the slave ID, the control means controls the storage means to store the slave ID in the storage means.
A seventh configuration of a wireless communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the sixth configuration, in that the storage means has a pager ID stored therein for the page signal received by the pager signal reception means, and the control means controls the storage means and the transmission/reception means to read and transmit the pager ID to the master communication device in the control delegation.
A first configuration of a master communication device according to the present invention is a master communication device having a unique master ID set therefor for using a wireless telephone line provided by a host station, using n (n is an integer equal to or larger than one) wireless communication devices provided with any one of the said first to seventh configurations as slave communication devices, and providing each of the slave communication devices with a slave ID created on the basis of the master ID to perform control delegation to each of the slave communication devices, characterized by comprising wireless communication means for performing wireless communication through the host station by transmitting the master ID to the host station, and control means for controlling the wireless communication means, and characterized in that, when the wireless communication means receives, during communication with an originating telephone apparatus, a signal indicating an originating telephone number of the originating telephone apparatus and a signal specifying any of the slave communication devices to which control has been delegated originated from the originating telephone apparatus, the control means disconnects the communication with the telephone apparatus and controls the wireless communication means such that the pager signal reception means of the slave communication device receives a pager signal including the originating telephone number and an originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number.
A second configuration of a master communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the first configuration, by further comprising storage means for storing a pager ID of each of the slave communication devices to which control has been delegated, and characterized in that the control means reads the pager ID from the storage means and controls the wireless communication means to perform originating to the pager ID of the slave communication device such that the pager signal reception means of the slave communication device receives the pager signal including the originating telephone number and the originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number.
A third configuration of a master communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the second configuration, by further comprising transmission/reception means for receiving the pager ID from each of the slave communication devices in the control delegation and performing transmission and reception of various signals to and from each of the slave communication devices, and characterized in that the control means stores each of the pager IDs received from each of the slave communication devices in the storage means and creates slave IDs corresponding in number to the slave communication devices to which control is to be delegated, and controls the transmission/reception means to transmit individually each of the slave IDs to each of the slave communication devices to which control is to be delegated.
A first configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a master communication device having a unique master ID set therefor for using a wireless communication line provided by a host station and one or more slave communication devices receiving control delegation from the master communication device to perform communication using the wireless communication line for the master communication device, and characterized in that the master communication device comprises wireless communication means for performing wireless communication through the host station by transmitting the master ID to the host station, and control means for controlling the wireless communication means, and each of the slave communication devices comprises storage means for storing the master ID and a slave ID recognizable by the master communication device, wireless communication means for performing communication using the wireless telephone line for the master communication device through the host station, pager signal reception means for receiving a pager signal of a radio paging system, and control means for controlling the wireless communication means based on a predetermined pager signal received by the pager signal reception means.
A second configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the first configuration, in that the control means of the slave communication device normally turns off the power of the wireless communication means, and when the pager signal reception means receives a pager signal, determines whether or not the pager signal includes an originating instruction that originating should be performed to an originating telephone number, and when it determines that it is not included, performs control to maintain the power of the wireless communication means off.
A third configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the second configuration, in that the control means of the slave communication device performs control to turn on the power of the wireless communication means when it determines that the originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number is included.
A fourth configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the third configuration, in that the control means of the slave communication device controls the wireless communication means to perform originating to an originating telephone apparatus of the originating telephone number using the master ID after the power of the wireless communication means is turned on.
A fifth configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to fourth configurations, in that, when the pager signal reception means receives the pager signal including the originating telephone number of the originating telephone apparatus, the control means of the slave communication device performs control to notify a user of the fact that a telephone call should be made to the originating telephone apparatus of the originating telephone number.
A sixth configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to fifth configurations, in that each of the slave communication devices comprises transmission/reception means for receiving the slave ID created by the master communication device in the control delegation and performing transmission and reception of various signals to and from the master communication device, and when the transmission/reception means receives the slave ID, the control means of each slave communication device controls the storage means to store the slave ID in the storage means.
A seventh configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the sixth configuration, in that the storage means of each of the slave communication devices has a pager ID stored therein for the page signal received by the pager signal reception means, and the control means of each slave communication device controls the storage means and the transmission/reception means to read and transmit the pager ID to the master communication device in the control delegation.
An eighth configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to seventh configurations, in that the master communication device comprises storage means for storing a pager ID of each of the slave communication devices to which control has been delegated, and the control means of the master communication device reads the pager ID from the storage means and controls the wireless communication means to perform originating to the pager ID of the slave communication device such that the pager signal reception means of the slave communication device receives the pager signal including the originating telephone number and the originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number.
A ninth configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in the eighth configuration, in that the master communication device comprises transmission/reception means for receiving the pager ID from each of the slave communication devices in the control delegation and performing transmission and reception of various signals to and from each of the slave communication devices, and the control means of the master communication device stores each pager ID received from each of the slave communication devices in the storage means and creates slave IDs corresponding in number to the slave communication devices to which control is to be delegated, and controls the transmission/reception means to transmit individually each of the slave IDs to each of the slave communication devices to which control is to be delegated.
A tenth configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to ninth configurations, in that, when the wireless communication means receives, during communication with an originating telephone apparatus, a signal indicating an originating telephone number of the originating telephone apparatus and a signal specifying any of the slave communication devices to which control has been delegated originated from the originating telephone apparatus, the control means disconnects the communication with the telephone apparatus and controls the wireless communication means such that the pager signal reception means of the slave communication device receives a pager signal including an originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number.
An eleventh configuration of a master/slave communication device according to the present invention is characterized, in any one of the first to tenth configurations, in that the pager signal reception means of the slave communication device receives a pager signal including the originating telephone number of the originating telephone apparatus and an originating instruction that originating should be performed to the originating telephone number originated from the originating telephone apparatus.
A first configuration of a wireless communication system according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a master communication device having a unique master ID set therefor for using a wireless telephone line, one or more slave communication devices receiving control delegation from the master communication device to perform communication using the wireless telephone line for the master communication device, and a host station for performing control of communication using the wireless telephone line and transmission control of a pager signal of a radio paging system, and characterized in that the master communication device comprises wireless communication means for performing wireless communication through the host station by transmitting the master ID to the host station, and control means for controlling the wireless communication means, and each of the slave communication devices comprises storage means for storing the master ID and a slave ID recognizable by the master communication device, wireless communication means for performing communication using the wireless telephone line for the master communication device through the host station, pager signal reception means for receiving a pager signal of the radio paging system, and control means for controlling the wireless communication means based on a predetermined pager signal received by the pager signal reception means.
A second configuration of a wireless communication system according to the present invention is characterized, in the first configuration, in that the host station has a plurality of radio signal transmission/reception means for performing transmission/reception of a radio signal using the wireless telephone line and receiving a radio signal originated from the wireless communication means of the master communication device or the wireless communication means of each slave communication device to perform location registration.